Real estate agency Foxtons hires rival Chestertons’ CEO for lead role

London-based real estate agency Foxtons named Guy Gittins, boss of rivals Chesterton as its new chief executive officer when the firm faces pressure from activist investors to begin a formal sale process.

Gittens will succeed NicBudden as the CEO of Foxtons. The selection comes just a few weeks after the real estate agency named Chris Hough as its new CFO and will join the firm in September of this year. Gittins began his career with Foxtons before leaving the firm in 2007 to work as a sales executive for British entrepreneur Peter de Savary.

His appointment arrives two months after Canadian investment fund Converium Capital wrote to realtor Foxtons’ board urging it to sell the firm. Converium holds a roughly 2% stake in realtor Foxtons.

The appointment of a new CEO denotes another step in Nigel Rich, Chairman of Foxtons’, efforts to improve Foxtons’ performance after a period in which its shares have continued to slide even as house prices in the UK’s capital have hit record highs.

Gittins announced his last working day at Chestertons in a post on LinkedIn. In his service of nearly a decade with Chestertons, Gittins served as CEO for almost four years.

Foxtons also announced it made an excellent start to the new fiscal year and the financial performance so far was in line with its expectations.